Weather stripping



June 6, v1939.

Rz R. cowEN WEATHER STRPP'ING Filed Aug. '13, 19:57

@Awso Y M m07 A ROO /Y mesas June 6,1939

UNITED STATESg PATENT ,OFFICE Y WEATHER s'rmrrmc Rawson B.. Cowen, Taunton, Mass., assignorto` New Jersey Rubber Company, Taunton, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts 'Application August 1s, 1937, serial No. 158,935

' zxciaims. (cl. zo-ss) which is economical to manufacture, durable in?` useand particularly eilicient when employed as out the length of the strip and holding them in spaced, concentric relation; the bore I4 and longitudinal channels I 5' constituting the voids of the tubing strip.

' i This novel construction of a multi-walled' 5- tubevon tube within a tubesubstantially ina cushion or weather strip around the doors or; "goreases the useful life of the'tubing strip, aifords trunk lids of automobiles.

The rubber stripping heretofore employed' for that purpose has been .made of sponge rubber.'

or ordinary; hollow tubing, and it has been found that both 4are unsatisfactory .and short-lived.

. The sponge rubber is expensive to manufacture and soon deteriorates due to the decomposition caused by the moisture trapped'within'its pores; and the ordinary tubing is: either too hard and stiff, or, if soft enough to yield, it is likely to collapse completely or even to split and become useless under therepeated compressive :actions `to which it is subjected.

'The improved tubing he'rein claimed possesses the advantages of both of the former types andV the disadvantages of neither. It is easy to make and to handle; it yields suill.-

ciently underpressure, without collapsing orv splitting; it returns to its original shape after .pressure is released; and it furnishes a'weather e tight andxshock-absorbing protective strip for ,automotive use. It willbe understood, however,

that its use is not limited to the automotive fleld;

for the improved tubing may be employed as a 40 equipped with apparatus for making, the im` provedtubing.

Fig. 2 is an emauqaloonng to the left of' Fig. 1;

Figs- 3 and 4 @rendevano ed views of a spindle shown inl Figi-1; 1. f g Figs. 5 and 8 'are side and-end'vlews of a collar or cylinder which is fitted onto-V the spindle, in Fiat-and u Fig. 'I is4 a perspectiveviewv of a4 fragment of ance with this invention.'

' 50 ubing produced by said apparatus, in accord- As showndn Fig. 7, the improved tub-Y Y ing prferably. comprises lau outer wall "or tube "ll,. an inner wall or'tube. l2, aid

orsielisv II` tliagtwo described and.

greaterresilient resistance to compression while at the same time allowing adequate yield under pressure, and avoids any tendency of damage or 1 permanent distortion during normal use.

Tubing of this character is most economically produced by xtruding plastic, .uncured rubberf through l, suitable dies which form the ltubular and radial walls and the intervening voids above 15 described. Forthis purpose, the nose 9 of the tubing machine III has its spindle I6. provided with a collar or tube I'l having radial slots I8 extending inwardly from its outer end and communicating with somewhat larger openings I9. 20

lThe tube I1 is applied over the` reduced tip 2l of the spindle I6 and screwed onto, its lboss 2l, the opposite end of the spindle being' threaded into a bracket 22 in the nose 9 so that the spindle extends axially of and projects slightly beyond the nose. A nut 23, having a tapered bore 24 terminating in a central delivery opening 25, is

screwed into the nose oi the tubing machine, around the spindle, the extreme ends of the nut .23, tube I1 and spindle tip 20 being substantially ,'30

ilush. y

In accordance with common practice, the plastic rubber-or rubber composition is fed to the nose of the tubing machine by a worm f eed. l e The material is thus squeezed into the cone- 35 shaped bore 2l ofthe nut 23, inwardly through .ent that the open space between the mouth 25 of the nut andthe tube I1, forms theV outer rubber `tube II; that the space between the tip 20"and the bore of the collar Il, forms the inner rubber tube I2; and that the slots I8 of the 4,5 collar'produce the radial webs I3 of the rubber tubing.. Zit will be understood that the uncured vrubber is projected from this die in the form oi.'

a continuous stream which may be severed into strips of suitable length for curing.

50 lIt willy alsobe understood thatrubber' strip- Y ping of the type generally known as.tubing .may be produced in a variety of shapes, otherf whe limited to a tubing or strip in which either the outer wall -Il or the inner wall I2 are neces-l sarily tubular, as illustrated. Either or both of -these'walls may be circular or non-circular in cross-section, and the word tube is used broadly herein to designate a long, hollow body, regard,

less of geometrical contour.

It will be evident that the improved tubing is freely. ilexible as well asvresilient;` that it may be bent around corners without collapsing or becoming -unduly distorted; land that it willcontinue to maintain its shape and provide an efficient cushioning seal after long use, even when made of relatively soft rubber, because`V of the strength and support aiorded by the improved construction.

The apparatus herein illustrated and described is especially adapted for producing an extruded tube having` the aforesaid characteristics, in a single operation; and a'desirable method of manutacturing the tubing is disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,125,001, issued July 26,1938 to myself and Cyril L. Sylvia. In accordance with that disclosure, the tubingextruded from the die of the tubing machine is delivered Iinto a bath of water, and the dieis vented to the atmospherelso that water may ireely enter within the-hollow tubing.

Hence, as herein illustrated, the spindle I i has an axle opening 26 leading inwardly from the tip 20 to a radial opening 21 which communicates with a passageway 2l formed in the bracket 22 and opening to the atmosphere at 29. This arrange'- ment permits the air in the bore Il of the inner tube I2 to escape through the vent when the tubing is fed into a bath of water, and allows water to enter the bore and partially set the uncured rubber.

I claim: 1. Weather stripping for the doors and trunk lids of automobiles, or thelike, consisting of cominner tub'e, an outer tube, and spaced radial webs connecting the two tubes and holding them in spaced relation.'

.pressible, resilient, rubber tubing comprising an 

